How to Choose the Best Online Course Platform for Your Business
If you’ve decided to create an online course, one of the first practical questions you’ll probably come up against is where you’re actually going to put it.
And there is no shortage of choice.
Thinkific, Teachable, Zenler, Kajabi, Udemy… spend half an hour researching course platforms and you’ll probably have several browser tabs open, a collection of comparison charts and less certainty than you had when you started.
I’ve worked with course platforms as part of building and supporting the systems behind canine businesses, and I don’t think there is one platform I could describe as the “best”.
There is, however, usually a platform that makes more sense for the particular business you’re building.
The important part is working out what you actually need before becoming distracted by an impressive list of features.
Before comparing course platforms, think about the business behind the course
It’s tempting to start with price. Or perhaps you’ve heard another course creator rave about a particular platform and naturally think it might work for you too.
I’d start somewhere else.
Think about the role this course is going to play in your business.
Are you a dog trainer creating an online course to complement your one-to-one work? Are you a canine professional wanting to reduce some of your reliance on appointments? Perhaps you’re a veterinary professional or educator delivering CPD and need assessments or certificates. Or you might be building a membership where community and regular new content are an important part of what people are paying for.
Those are very different requirements.
I’d think about:
- Your students: Who will be using the platform and how technically confident are they?
- The learning experience: Do you need video, downloads, quizzes, assessments, certificates or live sessions?
- Your wider client journey: What needs to happen between somebody discovering the course, purchasing it, receiving access and completing it?
- Marketing: Do you already have email marketing and landing-page systems you’re happy with, or would you prefer more of this within the course platform?
- Your existing systems: What does the platform need to integrate with?
- Your plans for growth: Is this one course, or could courses, memberships and other digital products become a significant part of the business?
- Your capacity: How much ongoing administration will the setup create?
- Budget: What will the platform cost now and as your student numbers, products or requirements grow?
That last point matters. Don’t only compare the entry price. Look at the plan you’re likely to need once you add the features that are actually important to you.
With that in mind, let’s look at some of the main options.
Thinkific: my choice for a strong dedicated course platform
Thinkific remains one of the platforms I’d seriously consider if the course itself and the student learning experience are at the centre of what you’re building.
It provides course creation alongside communities, e-commerce and various learning tools, with different functionality available according to the plan you choose. Thinkific also supports mobile learning, including the option of a separate branded mobile app at additional cost.
One thing worth knowing if you’ve looked at Thinkific previously is that its pricing changed in August 2026. At the time of writing, monthly billing starts at £46 per month for Basic, £92 for Start and £186 for Grow. Paying annually reduces the equivalent monthly cost.
Where I think Thinkific works particularly well
I’d consider Thinkific for an established canine or veterinary professional who wants a professional learning environment and expects courses or education to become an important part of the business.
For example, if you’re delivering professional education, structured programmes or CPD, I’d be looking carefully at the learning functionality you require rather than simply choosing whichever platform has the cheapest starter plan.
Thinkific is also worth considering when you already have other parts of your business working elsewhere. You don’t necessarily need your course platform to become your entire business system.
Best suited to: businesses where delivering a strong course or learning experience is the priority.
I’d think twice if: you’re really looking for one system to replace several of your existing marketing tools as well as host the course.
Teachable: a straightforward option with useful selling tools
Teachable is another well-established course platform, offering courses alongside memberships, community features, digital products and sales tools.
Its pricing structure has changed considerably since I originally wrote this article. The current plans are Starter, Builder and Growth, with custom options for larger businesses. Starter is currently $39 per month when billed monthly and includes a 7.5% platform transaction fee. Builder is $89 per month with 0% platform transaction fees, while Growth is $189 per month. Annual billing reduces those monthly equivalents. Standard payment-processing fees can still apply.
Teachable also includes iOS and Android student apps across its current plans, which is useful if you expect students to access your content predominantly on mobile.
Where I think Teachable makes sense
I’d look at Teachable if you want a relatively straightforward way of creating and selling courses without needing to build an overly complicated system.
The transaction fee on Starter is something I’d factor into the decision rather than looking at the monthly subscription in isolation. If your course sells consistently, the cheaper monthly plan isn’t necessarily the cheapest option overall.
I’d also think about where your course business might go next. If you expect to add memberships, additional products or a larger student base, compare the limits and costs of the plans you’re likely to need later, not just the one you’d start on.
Best suited to: creators wanting a relatively accessible platform for building and selling courses and related digital products.
I’d think twice if: you’re choosing Starter purely because of the lower monthly cost without calculating the effect of transaction fees and plan limits.
Zenler: worth considering if you want more under one roof
Zenler takes a somewhat different approach because it’s designed as an all-in-one platform.
Alongside courses, it includes communities, email allowances, marketing funnels, live sessions, quizzes, surveys, blogs and automations. Current plans also have no platform transaction fees.
At the time of writing, Starter is $57 per month when paying monthly, or the equivalent of $47 per month when billed annually. Pro is $117 monthly or $97 per month on annual billing. There is also a substantially larger Premium plan.
Where I think Zenler becomes interesting
For a canine professional planning courses alongside a membership, live teaching, email communication or a community, Zenler deserves a closer look because so much functionality sits in one place.
That can potentially simplify the technology behind the business.
But “all in one” doesn’t automatically mean “best”.
Before moving your email marketing, funnels, community and course delivery into one platform, I’d want to understand what you’re already using and whether replacing those systems genuinely makes the business simpler. Moving everything for the sake of having fewer subscriptions can create an enormous amount of work without necessarily improving how the business operates.
Best suited to: businesses that genuinely want course delivery, community and more of their marketing functionality within one ecosystem.
I’d think twice if: you already have systems you’re happy with and would only be moving them because an all-in-one platform sounds neater.
Kajabi: powerful, but make sure you need what you’re paying for
Kajabi is probably one of the best-known names in the creator and online education space, and its appeal is understandable.
It’s much more than somewhere to upload course videos. Kajabi combines products with websites, landing pages, marketing emails, funnels, communities, payments and other marketing and business functionality.
That breadth is reflected in the price.
At the time of writing, Kajabi Basic is $179 per month when paying monthly, or the equivalent of $143 per month on annual billing. Growth is $249 monthly/$199 annually, while Pro is $499 monthly/$399 annually.
When would I choose Kajabi?
I’d consider Kajabi when courses, memberships, education or other digital products are becoming a substantial part of the business and you genuinely intend to use the wider marketing ecosystem.
If you’re going to use the website functionality, landing pages, email marketing, funnels and community alongside your course, comparing Kajabi’s subscription with a much cheaper course platform isn’t particularly meaningful. You need to compare it with the combined cost and complexity of the systems it could replace.
On the other hand, if you simply need somewhere professional to host one course, you could be paying for far more infrastructure than you need.
This is something I see quite often with business software generally. We assume more features equal a better system, when sometimes they simply mean more features we’re paying for and never using.
Best suited to: established businesses building a significant digital education arm and wanting an integrated marketing and course ecosystem.
I’d think twice if: you’re primarily looking for somewhere to host a course and won’t use the wider marketing functionality.
Udemy: a different proposition altogether
I included Udemy in my original comparison, but I think it needs separating from the platforms above because you’re making a different business decision when you choose it.
With Thinkific, Teachable, Zenler or Kajabi, you’re essentially building your own course environment. Udemy operates as a marketplace where people can discover courses from many different instructors.
There is currently no fee to create and host a course on Udemy. Instead, its model includes revenue sharing. For transactional course sales, instructors currently receive 97% of the net revenue when the purchase comes through their own coupon or referral link, and 37% when a sale is generated through Udemy without an instructor promotion.
That makes it difficult to compare Udemy with the others purely on price.
When might Udemy make sense?
Potentially when marketplace discovery is valuable to you or when the course itself suits that type of environment.
But I’d think carefully about the role of the course in your wider business.
If part of your aim is to create a carefully designed client journey, build a membership around your education, strengthen relationships with your existing audience or make the course a central part of your own brand, I’d want to compare the level of control available with what you’d have through your own course platform.
Best suited to: courses where access to an existing learning marketplace is part of the attraction.
I’d think twice if: owning and controlling the wider customer journey is central to your strategy.
So, which online course platform would I choose?
The slightly frustrating answer is: it depends on the business.
But I can narrow it down more than that.
If I were looking primarily for a strong dedicated course platform, Thinkific would be high on my list.
If I wanted something relatively straightforward for creating and selling courses, I’d compare Teachable closely with Thinkific.
If live learning, community, courses and marketing all needed to sit together, I’d investigate Zenler.
If digital education was becoming a substantial part of an established business and I wanted an integrated marketing ecosystem around it, Kajabi would become much more interesting — assuming the numbers made sense.
And if I wanted to tap into an existing course marketplace, I’d look at Udemy, while recognising that it’s a fundamentally different model.
What I wouldn’t do is choose whichever platform another business owner tells you is “the best”.
Their business isn’t yours.
Don’t build the course before you’ve mapped the journey
There’s one other piece of advice I’d give before you start uploading modules.
Map out what needs to happen from the student’s point of view.
How do they find the course? What happens when they decide to buy? What information do they receive immediately afterwards? How do they access it? What happens if they stop halfway through? Do they receive reminders? Is there live support? What happens when they finish? Is there another logical step in their relationship with your business?
This is where course builds can become more complicated than expected.
Uploading videos and PDFs is only one part of the project. There may also be payment integrations, emails, automations, landing pages, booking links, community access and ongoing communication to consider.
The platform needs to support that journey rather than forcing you to build the journey around the software you’ve already chosen.
A final thought
There are plenty of very capable online course platforms available, and that’s both useful and slightly overwhelming.
My advice is to resist comparing them feature by feature until you’re clear about what you actually need.
Think about the experience you want your students to have, the role the course will play within your business, the systems you already use and what you might want to build over the next few years. Then look for the platform that supports those requirements without creating unnecessary complexity.
The best course platform isn’t necessarily the one with the longest feature list.
It’s the one that fits the business you’re actually building.
Need help choosing or setting up your course platform?
Choosing the platform is only the beginning. I support canine and veterinary businesses with course, membership and booking system setup, including structuring the platform, organising content, creating the client journey and making sure the different pieces work together behind the scenes.
If you know what you want to create but aren’t quite sure which platform or setup makes the most sense, we can look at the requirements first and build from there.
FAQs
What is the best platform for creating an online course?
There isn’t one platform that’s best for every business. Thinkific is a strong dedicated course option, while Teachable offers an accessible course-selling environment. Zenler and Kajabi are worth considering when you want more marketing and business functionality within the same platform.
Is Thinkific better than Teachable?
It depends on what you’re building. Rather than comparing them only on price, look at the learning experience, features you require, student limits, transaction fees, integrations and the plan you’re likely to need as your course grows.
Is Kajabi worth the higher price?
It can be if you’re going to use its wider website, email, funnel, community and marketing functionality. If you only need somewhere to host one course, a less expensive dedicated course platform may make more sense.
What should I consider before choosing a course platform?
Start with your students, course format, learning experience, marketing requirements, existing systems, integrations, budget and longer-term plans. Map the complete student journey before deciding which software should support it.
Platform features and pricing checked August 2026. Software changes frequently, so always check the provider’s current plans before making a final decision.
